NASDAQ:SBUX 24 September 2025 - 7 October 2025

Starbucks stock has been sluggish in recent weeks. As of September 25, 2025, SBUX trades around $84–$85 per share, roughly flat over the past few days. It remains well below its summer peak and about 10% lower than a year ago, even as the S&P 500 rose by double digits in that time Tradingnews. In fact, Starbucks shares have stalled near multi-month lows, closer to their 52-week bottom of $75.50 than the $117 highs from late 2024 Marketbeat. Short-term swings have reflected broader market volatility and company-specific news. The stock bounced modestly in early September, buoyed by excitement over fall season promotions but then gave up those gains, sliding ~3% over the past month amid profit concerns Simplywall. Year-to-date performance has been essentially flat-to-down, lagging the overall market. Over a longer horizon, Starbucks’ underperformance is more stark – the stock is up only about 13% in total over the past five years, dramatically trailing the S&P 500’s ~100% gain in that period Tradingnews. This suggests that while Starbucks has delivered steady dividends and some growth, it hasn’t kept pace with the broader rally or some restaurant peers.

The confluence of tariffs, bad weather, and supply-chain woes set the stage for the current coffee cost crisis. By mid-2025, global coffee benchmark prices were already climbing due to poor harvests. Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producer, suffered weather setbacks – from drought that stressed crops to an unexpected frost – curbing output baltimorebanner-the-baltimore-banner-staging.web.arc-cdn.net spokesman.com. Other key producers like Vietnam and Central America also saw lower yields, meaning fewer beans available worldwide spokesman.com. This tightening supply drove up the international price for green coffee beans dramatically reuters.com. On top of that came the U.S. tariff policy. In an effort to pressure trading partners and boost U.S. agriculture, the administration slapped tariffs on a range of imports – including coffee, despite no meaningful domestic coffee industry to protect baltimorebanner-the-baltimore-banner-staging.web.arc-cdn.net. Starting August 6, 2025, U.S. importers bringing in coffee from certain countries suddenly owed massive duties. Brazil, which historically supplied about one-third of America’s coffee reuters.com spokesman.com, was hit with a punishing 50% tariff overnight. Major suppliers like Vietnam and Indonesia also saw new tariffs around 20% baltimorebanner-the-baltimore-banner-staging.web.arc-cdn.net. Even countries not specifically targeted still face at least a 10% import tax on coffee now baltimorebanner-the-baltimore-banner-staging.web.arc-cdn.net.